betoken

«betoken» in Mova's school dictionary: To be a sign of something; to show that something is true… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

verb (betoken, betokens, betokened, betokening), formal

meaning for a pupil

(formal) To be a sign of something; to show that something is true or is going to happen. tree →

sense in the lessons

A stiff, old-fashioned word found in classic stories and exam texts: dark clouds betoken a storm; a smile betokens friendship. In everyday talk people say «be a sign of» or «show».

examples

• Dark clouds betokened a storm. tree →
• His silence betokened anger. tree →
• The gift betokened her thanks. tree →
• Red sky at night is said to betoken fine weather. tree →
• The empty streets betokened that something was wrong. tree →
• From the mountain-path came a joyous sound of some person whistling, and it betokened good humor and undaunted courage. tree →

note

Formal and rare. Regular verb: betokened. Everyday words: show, mean, be a sign of.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «betoken» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.